Tehran – Al-Yurae:
Iran descended further into unrest on Friday as authorities imposed a nationwide internet blackout, canceled flights, and halted phone communications in an effort to stem rapidly expanding protests now seen as the gravest challenge to the Islamic Republic in years..
The protests, which erupted on December 28, 2025, began amid a deepening economic meltdown and a record collapse of the national currency the (rial) surpassing 1.4 million per dollar on the black market compared to 820,000 a year earlier. What started as demonstrations by shopkeepers and mobile vendors in Tehran over the plummeting currency quickly spread across cities and social groups, capturing public anger over inflation, job losses, and political repression.
The Supreme National Security Council accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating “acts of sabotage,” saying the initially peaceful protests “turned into threats to national security under foreign direction.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei labeled demonstrators as “tools of foreign mercenaries,” blaming Washington for “the blood of thousands of Iranians,” and urging unity against “internal and external enemies.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a measured tone, urging law enforcement to avoid violence and asserting citizens’ rights to peaceful expression, stating that “the government remains responsible for public safety and national dialogue.”
In Washington, former U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran against further bloodshed, promising a “very strong blow” if protesters were killed, saying aboard Air Force One: “We are watching very closely.”
Images released by Iranian state media showed burning vehicles, metro stations, and banks in major cities such as Tehran, Rasht, and Kermanshah. A state TV reporter described one street in Rasht as “looking like a war zone.”
Journalists and eyewitnesses told AFP that this wave of unrest felt different from past protests: “This time, everyone feels the pressure young and old, men and women,” said a Tehran shopkeeper. “We just want to get rid of this bloody government.”
Although the movement has not yet matched the scale of the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, it marks the most serious domestic challenge to Iran’s leadership since then. Protesters in Kurdish regions have joined strikes and demonstrations, demanding democracy and regional autonomy.
“Living has become our daily act of resistance,” one Tehran resident said, shouting slogans from her balcony. “We stay alive and fight until we are free.”
